Learning with Maryland’s Immigrant Communities: Digital Storytelling as Community Engagement

Abstract

In this article, we explore digital storytelling as a community-engaged pedagogy to create students’ immigration stories in Maryland as part of the project, “Intercultural Tales: Learning with Maryland's Immigrant Communities.” Stories highlight students’ lived experiences of immigration, language, and identity. By envisioning themselves and their classmates as community members, students and their stories challenge the assumption that the university is disconnected from local communities. In turn, this process of collaborative storytelling shapes teaching and learning as student-centered practices where it is possible to learn about immigration from inside and outside the classroom.